Ed/Psych 
Lib. 
BF 
20 
F85p 


^rp     nnvn     pTTT!1HrT4-TTr^T:VTJ     c^T^^TT^ 


IVORY  ?HANZ 


THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 
OF  CALIFORNIA 

LOS  ANGELES 


UNIVERSITY  of  CALIFORNIA 

AT 

LOS  ANGELES 
LIBRARY 


PSYCHOLOGY  AT  TWO  INTERNATIONAL  SCIENTIFIC 

CONGRESSES 


SHEPHERD  IVORY   FRANZ 


Reprinted  from  THK  JOURNAL  OP  PHILOSOPHY,  PSYCHOLOGY  AND  SCIENTIFIC  METHODS 
Vol.  IV.,  No.  24,  November  21, 1907 


Library 


Ffs 


PSYCHOLOGY  AT    TWO    INTERNATIONAL   SCIENTIFIC 

CONGRESSES 

THE  seventh  international  congress  of  physiologists  was  held  in 
Heidelberg,  August  13-16,  and  the  first  international  congress 
of  psychiatry,  neurology,  psychology,  and  the  nursing  of  the  insane 
was  held  in  Amsterdam,  September  2-7.  In  both  congresses  topics 
of  interest  to  psychologists  were  discussed,  but  the  number  of  purely 
psychological  papers  was  very  small.  Some  of  the  papers  were  of 
interest  to  those  who  investigate  the  functions  of  the  sense  organs 
and  the  cerebrum,  most  were  of  importance  only  to  those  who  are 
chiefly  concerned  with  the  physiological  and  clinical  study  of  the 
central  nervous  system. 

In  the  physiological  congress  there  was  not  a  special  section  for 
papers  of  psychological  bearing.  The  special  section  of  psycho- 
physics  at  the  Amsterdam  congress  was  concerned  with  clinico- 
psychology  more  than  with  normal  psychology,  and  in  this  section 
the  only  professional  psychologist  of  note  on  the  program  was  Pro- 


656  THE   JOURNAL    OF  PHILOSOPHY 

fessor  Jodl,  of  Vienna.  Professor  Janet,  of  Paris,  another  pro- 
fessor of  psychology,  read  before  the  section  of  neurology  and 
psychiatry. 

In  the  general  sessions  of  the  congress  of  psychiatry,  etc.,  two 
papers  dealt  with  matters  of  some  general  psychological  interest,  that 
of  Professor  von  Bechterew,  of  St.  Petersburg,  "Recherches  objec- 
tives sur  1'activite  psychique,"  and  that  of  Ziehen,  of  Berlin, 
"Methoden  der  Intelligenzpriifung. "  The  former  considered  the 
question  whether  or  not  psychology  is  a  science  more  than  the 
recherches  objectives,  and  concluded,  as  have  many  others,  that  the 
true  method  of  psychology  is  introspection,  that  as  such  it  is  a  part 
of  philosophy  and  can  not  be  a  science.  Experimental  psychology, 
on  the  other  hand,  is  concerned  only  with  associations  and  reactions 
to  situations,  and  it  is  a  science.  The  scientific  psychology  may  be 
divided  into  a  number  of  different  fields  according  to  the  material 
with  which  one  works,  and  we  have,  therefore,  the  psychology  of 
the  normal  adult,  of  the  child,  of  the  abnormal,  of  different  peoples, 
etc. 

Professor  Ziehen 's  paper  is  of  more  interest  to  psychologists,  for 
in  it  he  dealt  to  a  large  extent  with  the  examination  of  the  insane 
and  strongly  urged  all  psychiatrists  to  do  more  extensive  and  more 
accurate  work  in  examining  patients  along  psychological  lines.  He 
cited  some  cases  that  he  had  been  able  to  differentiate  by  most  careful 
mental  examinations,  and  used  these  results  as  examples  of  what 
more  accurate  examination  and  analysis  will  do. 

In  the  special  sessions  devoted  to  papers  on  psychology  and 
psychophysics  the  following  general  topics  were  considered:  the 
present  state  of  the  James-Lange  theory  of  the  emotions;  the  psy- 
chology of  puberty;  the  difference  between  perception  and  idea; 
the  secondary  function.  For  these  discussions,  referees  or  rap- 
porteurs were  appointed  respectively  as  follows:  P.  Sollier  (Brus- 
sels) ;  Marro  (Turin) ;  Jodl  (Vienna)  and  Mercier  (London)  ;  Gross 
(Graz).  In  place  of  Neiser,  Sommer  (Giessen)  discussed  the  sub- 
ject, "The  Past  of  the  Psychopath." 

It  is  unfortunate  that  Sollier  should  have  been  chosen  to  con- 
sider the  James-Lange  theory  of  the  emotions  in  view  of  the  fact 
that  he  had  so  recently  published  in  full  his  views  on  the  subject. 
In  his  paper  before  the  section  Sollier  presented  nothing  that  is 
not  to  be  found  in  his  book,  "La  mechanisme  des  emotions."1  It 
would  have  been  more  profitable  to  have  had  some  one  discuss 
Sollier 's  position,  which  to  the  present  writer  seems  no  more  tenable 
than  that  of  James  and  Lange. 

In  the  discussion  of  the  difference  between  perception  and  idea, 

1  See  review  in  this  JOURNAL,  Vol.  IV.,  page  109. 


PSYCHOLOGY   AND   SCIENTIFIC   METHODS        657 

Mercier's  paper  was  read,  in  his  absence,  by  Dr.  Conolly  Norman. 
A  perception  differs,  Mercier  holds,  from  an  idea  or  image  in  that 
the  former  contains  some  presentation  of  sense,  there  is  an  objectify- 
ing of  the  perceived  thing,  and  there  is  a  more  vivid  nucleus.  The 
time  it  takes  to  invest  a  presented  object  with  certain  qualities,  e.  g., 
a  cushion  with  the  quality  of  softness,  determines  whether  we  shall 
consider  the  quality  a  perception  or  an  image.  If  the  attribution  is 
instantaneous  it  is  a  perception.  Jodl  considered  the  descriptive  and 
genetic  differences  between  idea  and  perception,  and  then  concluded 
that  we  can  not  always  differentiate  the  things  in  these  ways.  He 
considered  the  subject  from  the  standpoint  of  scientific  psychology 
and  of  every-day  life  and  concluded  that  the  solution  of  the  problem 
was  not  in  the  field  of  individual  psychology,  but  that  the  differ- 
ences could  be  thoroughly  appreciated  only  from  a  careful  study  of 
the  social  self.  How  this  is  to  be  done  the  speaker  did  not  make 
clear,  but  doubtless  more  light  will  be  given  in  the  full  account  of  the 
paper  in  the  congress  transactions. 

The  papers  in  the  sectional  meetings  other  than  those  mentioned 
above  were  not  of  sufficient  importance  to  warrant  more  than  men- 
tion of  the  titles:  Gutzmann  (Berlin),  "Ueber  Horen  und  Ver- 
stehen";  Lechner  (Kolosvar,  Hungary),  "Ueber  negative  Sinnes- 
tauschungen " ;  Francke  (Hague),  " Statistisch-sexuelle  Traumdif- 
ferenzen";  Roemer  (Holland),  "Verhaltnis  zwischen  Mondalter  und 
Sexualitat";  Schuyten  (Antwerp),  "Problemes  de  pedologie"; 
Albada  (Holland),  "Theorie  zur  Erklarung  psychologischer  Prob- 
leme";  Joire  (Paris),  "Sur  une  force  nerveuse  exterioree";  By- 
chowsky  (Warsaw),  ' ' Reflex-studien " ;  de  Boer  (Amsterdam),  "As- 
sociation gegensatzlicher  Begriffe";  Novoa  Santos  (Spain),  "Temps 
reflex  et  temps  conscient." 

At  the  physiological  congress  only  two  papers  of  special  interest 
to  experimental  psychologists  were  presented.  These  are  papers 
dealing  with  method  rather  than  with  results,  and  are  therefore  the 
more  valuable.  Professor  Zwaardemaker,  who  is  best  known  to 
psychologists  by  his  work  on  smell  sensations,  described  his  newly 
constructed  room  for  sound  experiments  and  showed  models  and 
lantern  slides  of  the  construction.  The  room  is  absolutely  still,  and 
is  probably  the  most  successfully  built  room  for  sound  investigations. 
A  full  description  is  to  be  found  in  a  forthcoming  number  of  Science, 
to  which  the  reader  is  referred  for  information. 

The  second  paper  of  interest  to  psychologists  was  that  of  Gotch 
(London),  who  described  and  illustrated  the  use  of  an  instrument 
for  testing  retinal  excitability.  The  instrument  is  a  modified  form 
of  the  spinthariscope.  The  ordinary  form  of  spinthariscope  was 
changed  so  that  it  has  three  adjustments,  one  for  increasing  or  de- 


658  THE   JOURNAL   OF  PHILOSOPHY 

creasing  the  size  of  the  field,  one  for  removing  the  radium  toward  or 
away  from  the  center  of  the  field,  and  a  third  for  moving  a  screen 
near  or  away  from  the  radium.  With  a  given  adjustment  the 
instrument  has  constancy  of  illumination-intensity,  but  there  is  an 
abrupt  and  momentary  excitation.  With  the  various  adjustments 
there  is  the  possibility  of  limiting  the  intensity  so  as  to  have  the 
minimal  or  threshold  value.  Some  of  the  advantages  of  the  in- 
strument are  that  it  is  portable  and  small,  easily  used  and  under- 
stood. With  it  Gotch  demonstrated  at  the  congress  the  increased 
excitability  in  the  dark  adapted  eye  of  certain  portions  of  the  retina, 
an  increased  excitability  of  the  nasal  as  compared  with  the  temporal 
part  of  the  retina,  the  effect  of  illuminating  one  eye  in  decreasing 
the  excitability  of  the  fovea,  and  the  remarkable  degree  to  which 
the  excitability  of  one  eye  is  temporarily  raised  by  illuminating  the 
other  eye. 

The  fact  that  so  few  papers  of  a  psychological  nature  were  offered 
at  the  physiological  congress  is  explained  by  the  condition  of  mem- 
bership, that  only  professional  physiologists  could  take  part,  and 
because  the  modern  development  of  physiology  has  been  along 
chemical  lines.  The  congress  of  psychiatry  and  psychology  was  in- 
tended to  be  for  psychologists  as  well  as  for  neurologists  and  psy- 
chiatrists, but  there  were  registered  less  than  fifteen  psychologists 
out  of  a  total  membership  of  eight  hundred.  This  is  the  more 
remarkable  since  there  was  a  special  section  devoted  to  psychology 
and  psychophysics.  The  paucity  of  papers  of  interest  to  psychol- 
ogists is  due  to  the  lack  of  immediate  interest  of  psychologists  in 
abnormal  psychology  on  the  one  hand,  and  on  the  other  hand  to  the 
fact  that  the  usual  psychology  of  the  clinic  differs  from  the  psy- 
chology of  the  universities.  It  is  true  that  psychologists  must 
depend  upon  themselves  for  the  solution  of  problems  of  normal 
psychology,  the  problems  of  special  interest  to  themselves.  Some 
hold,  unfortunately,  I  believe,  that  the  only  material  that  will  be 
advantageously  used  in  solving  these  problems  is  the  normal  adult 
mind,  but  this  view  is  held  largely  because  they  know  nothing  of 
the  abnormal.  I  have  expressed  the  opinion,  and  still  hold  it  to 
be  the  true  one,  that  the  specially  trained  psychologist  will  find  new 
points  of  view  as  well  as  new  facts  in  the  study  of  abnormal  or 
clinical  material,  and  that  it  is  unfortunate  so  few  psychologists  are 
willing  to  ally  themselves  with  the  psychiatrists.  Normal  psychology 
will  be  advanced  from  studies  of  the  insane  and  other  abnormal 
peoples  only  by  having  studies  on  these  classes  conducted  by  the 
psychologist  who  has  the  normal  as  his  specific  goal.  The  value  of 
the  abnormal  material  will,  however,  not  be  understood  from  a  far- 


PSYCHOLOGY  AND   SCIENTIFIC   METHODS        659 

off  look,  and  especially  from  a  view  of  the  work  of  others  who  are 
interested  exclusively  in  a  different  set  of  problems. 

The  psychiatrists  are  aware  of  the  importance  to  them  of  the 
careful  analysis  of  cases  by  the  newer  psychological  methods,  and  the 
clinics  are  being  opened  to  properly  trained  psychologists  wherever 
they  present  themselves.  It  must  be  kept  in  mind,  for  a  proper 
appreciation  of  much  of  the  so-called  abnormal  psychology,  that  the 
clinician  is  interested  in  psychology  primarily  in  so  far  as  it  gives 
him  some  material  for  the  proper  understanding  of  his  cases,  and  he 
is  interested  in  the  same  way  and  to  just  the  same  degree  in  micro- 
scopical studies  of  nerve  cells,  which  he  understands  can  never  really 
explain  the  presence  or  absence  of  a  particular  idea  or  set  of  ideas. 
The  interest  of  the  physician  being,  therefore,  in  cases  or  in  disease 
types,  in  the  care  and  cure  of  individuals,  necessarily  produces  a 
type  of  abnormal  psychology  that  many  academic  psychologists  are 
unwilling  to  admit  to  be  psychology.  Perhaps  this  is  rightly  so.  On 
the  other  hand,  the  advantages  to  normal  psychology  will  only  be 
felt  after  psychologists  have  taken  opportunities  of  investigating 
the  abnormal  and  of  determining  in  the  abnormal  the  things  that  are 
really  helpful  in  understanding  the  normal.  In  other  words,  normal 
psychology  is  not  the  goal  of  the  clinician,  and  psychologists  may 
not  expect  much  light  on  the  problems  of  normal  mental  life  from 
studies  by  physicians.  However  adequately  trained  in  normal  psy- 
chology he  may  be,  the  physician  desires  to  understand  the  abnormal 
more  than  make  contributions  to  normal  psychology. 

SHEPHERD  IVORY  FRANZ. 

GOVERNMENT  HOSPITAL  FOB  THE  INSANE. 

GEOBGE  WASHINGTON  UNIVERSITY. 


124898 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY,  LOS  ANGELES 
EDUCATION  AND  PSYCHOLOGY  LIBRARY 

This  book  is  DUE  on  the  last  date  stamped  below. 


Form  L9-10wi-9,'65(F7203s8)4939A 


A 

N 

ULBSLAJRY 


UCLA-ED/PSYCH  Library 

BF20F85D 

UC  SOUTHERN  REGIONAL  LIBRARY  FACILITY 


A     000936312     8 


